Category

Published on

03 Sep 2014

Abstract

This tool simulates the athermal densification of soft, frictionless spheres from an initial sparsely connected phase to a mechanically stable, jammed phase. A jammed phase for a system of particles is defined as a granular matter phase that lies at the transition between a liquid-like state and a solid-like state. Such jammed phases are an important class of heterogeneous materials with diverse functional applications. This tool allows user-defined size distributions of spheres, initial packing fraction and soft-sphere contact mechanics law. Mathematical optimization methods are then employed to achieve a mechanically stable and energetically favorable jammed configuration as the system of spheres is compressed in an affine manner. Users can download various statistical and geometrical information about the jammed system such as spatial distribution of the spheres (including VTK graphics), average contact area, coordination number, internal pressure, and radial distribution functions.